While vacationing on the Maldives Islands, Taiwanese photographer Will Ho stumbled onto an incredible stretch of beach covered in millions of bioluminescent phytoplankton. These tiny organisms glow similarly to fireflies and tend to emit light when stressed, such as when waves crash or when they are otherwise agitated. While the phenomenon and its chemical mechanisms have been known for some time, biologists have only recently began to understand the reasons behind it. You can see a few more of Ho’s photographs over on Flickr.

Composer Johnnyrandom just released a new track recorded entirely by sampling sounds from a bicycle and its related components. Titled Bespoken, the track was created without the aid of synthesizers, samplers or drum machines (if you’re skeptical he even provided every sound broken down into component parts over on SoundCloud). The video above is just a teaser, but you can downloaded the whole thing off iTunes and it’s actually pretty great. If you’re a fan of ambient/electronic music it’ll be up your alley. If you liked this, also check out the work of Diego Stocco.

No, these aren’t exactly your childhood goldfish bowls. The world of competitive aquarium design, or aquascaping, is just as difficult, expensive, and cutthroat as any other sport but requires expertise in many different fields to guarantee success. Aquarium designers possess large amounts of expertise in biology, design, photography, and excel in the art of patience, as individual aquascapes can take months if not years to fully mature into a completed landscape.

After spending a week photographing various areas of the Canadian Rockies, photographer Brian Donovan decided he wanted to focus on getting some interesting train shots against the wintry backdrop. Dovan shares via email that over the course of two days he endured nearly 13 hours of sitting by the train tracks, where he saw only 6 trains coming from the wrong (less scenic) direction. As the weather rapidly changed from better to worse a final train came roaring around the bend. Donovan quickly setup and captured the engine as it neared and then adjusted for a long exposure of the boxcars rushing by. The train was loaded with several long segments of different colored boxcars, each giving the shot a unique feel, but the red boxcars instantly stood out, resulting in the amazing image you see here. You can follow Donovan over on 500px.

The subject of Randall Rosenthal’s artwork at times seem inconsequential. Stacks of old newspapers and magazines, a comic book collection in a cardboard box, envelopes stuffed with various stacks of currency. And then you discover that you’re really looking at only two things: a single piece of Vermont white pine and skillfully applied acrylic paint. These are the only materials Rosenthal requires to mimic the look and feel of flimsy newsprint, worn trading cards, translucent pieces of tape and deteriorating cardboard boxes. What’s all the more amazing is that he doesn’t work from a photograph or model, but instead creates each object as he goes, using only an image in his mind as a guide.

After graduating from the Carnegie Institute of Technology in the late 1960s Rosenthal opened his first exhibition of surrealist paintings, a direction he pursued until the late 80s. His focus then shifted to architectural design and next into the realist sculptures he creates today. You can read more about his process and inspiration in this recent interview in rh+artmagazine.

See much more of Rosenthal’s work over at Bernarducci.Meisel.Gallery, and he’s been updating this message board thread at Sawmill Creek since 2011 to show some of his ongoing progress with different projects.

In the mind-1920s cinema technician, filmmaker, and cinematographer Claude Friese-Greene traveled across the UK with a new color film camera to create his famous collection of films, The Open Road. The filmmaker’s trip culminated in London with scenes that captured the daily life of Londoners as well as several iconic cityscapes. The films were restored in 2005 by the BFI and circulated widely online.

Fast forward 86 years later. Starting early last year filmmaker Simon Smith, armed with his own camera, traversed the footsteps of Friese-Greene to make his own film. The result is uncanny. Smith matched the original films shot by shot, mimicking the timing and angle almost perfectly for nearly 6 minutes of footage. While the differences between London of 1926 and 2013 are easy to spot when viewing the films side-by-side, what’s more amazing are the similarities. While clothing styles and car designs changed a bit, it’s almost impossible to tell some of these shots apart if it weren’t for the quality of the film. Watch it and see. (via Stellar)

Redbubble tends to wear their love for their artists on their sleeves, and apparently that love extends to the windows of their new offices at 633 Howard St. in San Francisco, California. The windows show off the unique talent, independence, and originality that can be found in droves in the RB community and represents an eclectic mix of brilliant work from their international community of artists coming from such diverse lands as Australia, Finland, the Philippines, Sweden, and the United States.

The interior of the offices are still under construction but soon it’ll house the Bay Area RB team, a gallery for showing off artists’ work, a workspace for local artists, and a space for hosting artist talks and other events open to the public.

The self-taught artist Mr. Finch is part hunter, part gatherer and fully genius. Obsessed with the rolling hills and mossy woods near his home in Yorkshire, Finch goes gathering for inspiration. “Flowers, insects and birds really fascinate me with their amazing life cycles and extraordinary nests and behaviour,” says the artist. He then goes hunting for vintage textiles—velvet curtains from an old hotel, a threadbare wedding dress or a vintage apron—and transforms them into all sorts of beasts and toadstools. The aged feel creates a sense of authenticity, or mystery; as if each piece has an incredible story to tell.

Mr. Finch works alone so all his work is limited. You can see all his creations and keep up with him on Facebook. (thnx, Kirsty!)

The self-taught artist Mr. Finch is part hunter, part gatherer and fully genius. Obsessed with the rolling hills and mossy woods near his home in Yorkshire, Finch goes gathering for inspiration. “Flowers, insects and birds really fascinate me with their amazing life cycles and extraordinary nests and behaviour,” says the artist. He then goes hunting for vintage textiles—velvet curtains from an old hotel, a threadbare wedding dress or a vintage apron—and transforms them into all sorts of beasts and toadstools. The aged feel creates a sense of authenticity, or mystery; as if each piece has an incredible story to tell.

Mr. Finch works alone so all his work is limited. You can see all his creations and keep up with him on Facebook. (thnx, Kirsty!)

Just a few weeks ago we shared Sarah Schoenfeld’s visual interpretation of recreational drugs, and today we have a cinematic interpretation of taste courtesy of filmmaker Chris Cairns titled the Sound of Taste. Created as a commercial for Schwartz Flavour Shots, the slow-motion video pairs musician MJ Cole and pyrotechnician Paul Mann in a carefully orchestrated firework show of exploding spices, what they describe as a “sonic flavorscape.” You can learn more about how it came together and watch a behind-the-scenes clip over on PetaPixel.